Life has a funny way of leading you down paths you never expected. 

Sometimes, the greatest disappointments turn out to be the catalysts for the most fulfilling adventures. 

As I stand on the brink of a major milestone – dedicating 100% of my time to my career coaching business, Tony McBride – Career Navigation – I wanted to share the winding road that brought me here. 

It wasn’t always straightforward, but every twist and turn taught me something vital.

My story doesn’t start with a lifelong dream of coaching. 

It began with a transition. 

Back in 2017, I made a significant career move, leaving behind a contact centre role in banking for the global professional services firm, PwC. 

My banking role hadn’t been particularly people-centric, but at PwC, something shifted. 

Suddenly, I found myself in a position where helping others was central. 

My role involved arming people with the tools and insights they needed to get staffed onto meaningful client engagements.

The real highlights? 

The deployment conversations. 

Sitting down with individuals, truly listening to understand their career goals, helping them craft CVs that shone, and coaching them on interview techniques to secure the projects they desired. 

There was a spark in those moments, a connection and satisfaction I hadn’t experienced before.

PwC had (and still has) a fantastic internal support system built around the role of a ‘Career Coach’. 

These weren’t full-time roles back then, but rather responsibilities taken on alongside your main job. 

You’d look after 4-6 ‘coachees’, guiding them through the career moments that truly mattered: 

Promotions, 

Internal Moves, 

Navigating sickness or absence, 

Returning to work after leave, 

Preparing for performance reviews

and generally being a sounding board for challenges they were facing.

Honestly, those one-to-one coaching sessions became the absolute highlight of my week. 

The feeling of helping someone navigate a tricky situation or achieve a long-held goal was incredibly rewarding. 

I knew, deep down, that this was something I wanted to do more of.

So, when an opportunity arose to join the Career Coach Leadership Team for my part of the business, I jumped at it. 

Well, perhaps ‘jumped’ is too gentle a word – I practically hounded people to volunteer for the team until they finally relented! 

My new responsibilities included training and onboarding new volunteer coaches, establishing systems for gathering feedback, and equipping them for key events like annual goal setting and performance reviews. 

My passion wasn’t just doing the coaching anymore; it was about elevating the quality of coaching across the board, ensuring everyone received the best possible support.

Then, it happened. The dream role was advertised: a permanent, full-time, dedicated Career Coach position within the firm. 

I couldn’t believe PwC was making such a significant investment in this area. 

This felt like it. 

The perfect way to immerse myself fully in the work I loved.

I bided my time, waiting six months for the right moment to apply. 

The stars seemed perfectly aligned. 

Colleagues were supportive, convinced it was a done deal. 

I was even asked to write the job description to backfill my existing role, and my stakeholders were briefed to expect my departure. 

Everything pointed towards success.

I went through the interview process and met the required standard. 

But then came the blow: ultimately, there were no roles available based in Belfast. 

Despite hitting the benchmark, my location was the blocker.

I was devastated. 

Utterly floored. 

The certainty I’d felt evaporated, leaving behind a fog of disengagement and confusion. 

What now? The path I’d mapped out had vanished overnight.

After the initial shock subsided, I took a crucial step back. 

I needed to reflect. 

Why did I want that dedicated Career Coach role so badly? 

Was it the role itself, or what it represented?

Slowly, I began to untangle my motivations. 

Longer-term, a different dream had been quietly simmering: the idea of setting up my own coaching practice. 

I’d seen the PwC role as a stepping stone, a way to gain deeper experience, test the waters, and confirm if this path was truly for me before taking the leap into self-employment. 

My sister, a thriving life coach, was a constant inspiration, living proof that building a successful coaching business was entirely possible.

The disappointment, painful as it was, forced me to confront that bigger dream sooner than planned. 

My first practical step was recognising I needed a change of scenery within the firm to regain my energy. 

In July, I moved into a new Global role, supporting the firm’s skills-first change programme. 

It was completely different, dynamic, and challenging – and it got my creative juices flowing again!

Away from the day-to-day that had led to the coaching disappointment, I found myself sketching out ideas. 

What would my career coaching business look like? 

I started assessing my own toolkit: 

years of CV writing and interview coaching experience, 

broad industry knowledge gained from banking and professional services, 

and most importantly, that undeniable passion and energy I get from helping others succeed.

And so, in October, Tony McBride – Career Navigation was officially born.

My initial plan was modest. 

I started posting content on LinkedIn, sharing insights and hoping to attract maybe a client or two on the side, something to build slowly while managing my demanding day job.

But life, again, had other plans. 

The response was beyond anything I’d anticipated. 

Balancing my Global role at PwC with a rapidly growing roster of coaching clients has been an incredible, exhilarating, and sometimes exhausting juggling act. 

I’ve loved both roles, but the success and fulfilment I’ve found in coaching have been undeniable.

Which brings me to today. 

I’m blessed and incredibly grateful that my coaching business has flourished to the point where I’m ready to pour all my energy into it. 

Taking the leap to full-time self-employment is daunting, exciting, and feels absolutely right. 

I genuinely never thought I’d reach this point, let alone so quickly.

Looking back, what are the lessons?

1️⃣ Don’t be afraid to try. You genuinely never know what you’re capable of, or where an opportunity might lead, until you take that first step. Starting small on LinkedIn felt low-risk, but it unlocked everything.

2️⃣ Embrace bravery. Taking chances, stepping outside your comfort zone, applying for that role, starting that side project – it can feel scary, but the potential rewards are immense. Even setbacks can redirect you towards something even better.

3️⃣ Disappointment can be a powerful detour. Sometimes, not getting what you think you want is the universe’s way of pushing you towards what you truly need or are meant to do.

My journey wasn’t linear, and yours probably won’t be either. But I wholeheartedly encourage you: 

Take those chances. 

Follow that flicker of a dream. 

You never know just how brightly it might burn or where it might lead you. 

If you’re feeling stuck or dreaming of a change, perhaps your own leap of faith is closer than you think.

If you want to discuss your story with me, get in touch!